Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
She stood frozen in place, her fingertips still curled as if grasping something. The lead had broken, but her confusion multiplied. Who had taken the item? Why? Lin Li bit her lip, suddenly recalling what her mentor had once said: "Even if a clue is lost, they will intertwine in other forms, ultimately revealing the truth. All we need to do is witness and record."
Taking a deep breath, she redialed the number. "I didn't find it; it's already been taken... Alright, I'll head to your shop now. Get 'The Gladiator' ready; I need to vent!" After hanging up, she turned to leave. Behind her, the rope used for the theft lay quietly in the shadows of the platform, as if it had never been used.
Meanwhile, Li Xuyang slumped in a corner of the rooftop, a bottle rolling away from him before coming to a stop. The twilight spread across the sky like thick ink. After downing the last sip of alcohol, his world spun around him. Why was he drinking alone? To forget someone. Who was he trying to forget? That lovely, beautiful, kind girl who would forever remain asleep. In his memory, her smiling face gradually blurred, while the twisted visage from the crime scene was burned into his mind like a branding iron.
A cold wind swept by, causing Li Xuyang to shiver and shaking off some of his drunkenness. He struggled to lift his head; the familiar outline of an advertisement came into view—he was back here again, their former home and the place where her life had ended. "She's gone... gone..." he suddenly erupted into laughter that was tinged with sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground, creating dark stains. Memories surged like a tide; those moments they had shared transformed into sharp blades that cut at his heart.
He first met her in the hospital corridor. The smell of disinfectant was overwhelming as his father lay weakly on the hospital bed receiving an IV drip. Li Xuyang anxiously stood by the bedside, his fingers unconsciously picking at the metal railing. At that moment, a cup of perfectly warm water and a gentle smile suddenly entered his line of sight. "Don't worry too much, sir; your father's condition is stable," Xu Yanran said in her pristine nurse's uniform, her name tag swaying gently with her movements. The radiant smile of "Yanyan" unexpectedly pierced through his heart.
From that day on, the hospital became Li Xuyang's most frequented place. Although he claimed it was to visit his father, his gaze often followed that busy figure. She handled needles with care when treating patients and would slightly bend down when speaking to elderly people; even the way her hair swept through the air when she turned made his heart flutter. On the day his father was discharged from the hospital, he shyly handed her a rose he had hidden for so long, and they officially confirmed their relationship.
In the following year or so, their relationship grew quietly like vines. Despite Yanyan often being disrupted by night shifts and emergencies and Li Xuyang's salary only being enough for basic sustenance, their shared laughter over instant noodles in their cramped rental apartment and late-night phone calls filled with mundane details only strengthened their bond. At least that's what Li Xuyang believed.
The change began on that sweltering afternoon. Li Xuyang stood at the hospital entrance watching Xu Yanran emerge from a shiny black sedan. The driver was Doctor Duan from the oncology department, dressed in a crisp white coat over an impeccably ironed shirt; his wristwatch gleamed coldly under the sunlight. "What's so great about having a car? I'll have one too someday—one for me and one for you," Li Xuyang thought as he crumpled the plastic water bottle in his hand with an audible crunch.
Suddenly, memories were sharpened by the cold wind. That day school let out early due to a power outage; he eagerly went to pick Yanyan up after work but saw Doctor Duan slipping a thick envelope into her hands. The corner of red bills peeking out from the envelope burned in his eyes while Xu Yanran's lowered eyelashes as she refused it and her pursed lips when accepting money became thorns piercing his heart.
In a jolt of turbulence, Li Xuyang's nails dug deeply into his palm as he sped through traffic in a taxi. In the underground parking lot, Doctor Duan's car sat silently like a mocking reminder. He rushed upstairs in quick strides and pounded on the door with a heavy thud: "Yanyan! Open up!" Inside came hurried footsteps and sounds of things colliding; three minutes later, Xu Yanran appeared wrapped in a damp towel with water droplets cascading down her collarbone: "Honey, why are you home so early? I just got out of the shower."
Li Xuyang squeezed past her into the room, scanning it with piercing eyes. The bed sheets were perfectly smooth without a wrinkle; however, two steaming teacups on the coffee table and crumpled tissues in the trash silently told tales of lies. "Did anyone come over?" His voice was as cold as ice. Xu Yanran tilted her head with a smile revealing her canines: "Doctor Duan gave me a ride back; I've been feeling like someone's been following me lately." She tiptoed to wrap her arms around his neck. "Tomorrow I'm going to Yushan for a gathering with my sister; you stay home and wait for me!"
Li Xuyang suddenly felt nauseous. Those once charming acts of affection now felt like clumsy performances. He roughly pushed her away and caught sight of an unfamiliar men's lighter on the dresser; its metallic surface still radiated warmth.
That night, he stared at the blinking cursor on the computer screen, replaying the scenes from earlier in his mind. At three in the morning, he suddenly rushed to the balcony—under the moonlight, the friction marks left on the railing stood out starkly against the darkness. "So that's it," he murmured to himself, his nails digging into his palm, leaving crescent-shaped blood marks. "Duan Doctor slid down the rope to the ground and left through the front door, while Yanran was responsible for collecting the evidence..."
The next morning, as Xu Yanran dragged her suitcase out the door, Li Xuyang lay in bed with his back to her, pretending to be asleep. Hearing the sound of the door closing, he dashed into the storage room and yanked down all the ropes, sheets, and curtains. The torn fabric fragments fluttered down like snowflakes. At that moment, he had no idea that this farewell would turn out to be eternal.
Comment 0 Comment Count